Daily News

The 2006 Children’s Index that will be released today measures how well North Carolinians treat, educate and care for children in our state. The results give the state reasons to be proud and to be ashamed — or challenged.

Health care figures give us reasons for both relief and worry. Six children in 10 see a doctor and a dentist once a year or more. That’s good. Yet one child in nine is not covered by health insurance. The uninsured are more likely to be admitted to the hospital and miss more school days when they fall ill. In Cumberland County, 11,547 children have no coverage.

Infant mortality rates and low birth weights remain a concern statewide, as every year. But one dramatic improvement was in foster care. In 2001, more than 60 percent of these children had three or more placements in a single year. In 2005, more than 90 percent had two or fewer.

Children’s scores are continuing to improve on state reading and math tests statewide. In Cumberland County, 88 percent of eighth-graders are proficient in reading and 82 percent are performing at grade level or above in math. Eighteen counties report 94 percent or more students proficient in reading. (more…)

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 27th, 2006 at 4:25 am and is filed under Daily News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.